Indiana hosted one of the nation’s top forwards, Cincinnati Princeton’s Darius Bazley, for an unofficial visit on Tuesday.

Bazley, the No. 44 player in the country in the 247Composite for the class of 2018, came away impressed according to his high school coach.

“He felt that the visit went real well,” Princeton coach Steve Wright told Inside the Hall. “He really likes the coaching staff at Indiana. He really likes the campus. And he really likes some of the things they do from an academic standpoint with all of the support there.

“From a basketball standpoint, some of the things that Archie (Miller) did at Dayton, some of the offensive stuff that he did, Darius felt that it fits him real well with how he plays. It was a positive thing.”

The 6-foot-9 forward, who committed to Ohio State in August of 2016, opted to reopen the recruiting process in late April.

“He’s visited Louisville, Indiana, Syracuse on Friday,” Wright, who accompanied Bazley on his visit to Bloomington, said. “He’s still open. I don’t think he’s leaning towards anybody. He’s just taking some unofficial visits to get a feel for different campuses and different coaches and their style of play.”

Bazley moved from the Under Armour Association circuit to the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League in the spring.

In eight EYBL games for Meanstreets, he’s averaging 15.4 points, 9.4 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in 22.6 minutes per game.

“He just wanted to play against the best,” Wright explained. “Every kid knows that the EYBL is the best AAU circuit in the country. So that was the reason for his move. He felt that it was the best circuit with the best kids and he just wanted to play with the best of the best.”

As Miller and the new Indiana staff build their first recruiting class in Bloomington, bringing in a strong, well rounded class is a priority.

The Hoosiers will graduate Robert Johnson, Josh Newkirk, Collin Hartman and two other seniors.

“Indiana will have five seniors this year, so coming in, he would have the opportunity to play right away,” Wright said. “That was intriguing. And their style of play. Archie did some good things while he was at Dayton. He always won and went to the NCAA tournament.”

Getting Darius could be a cornerstone for rebuilding the IU program. Hopefully we could coax at least 2 years out of him. He looks like a rock solid recruit! Go Hoosiers!

BannerOrBust

He would be a major pick-up if he chooses Indiana. I hope we can land him.

On a side note: why are kids still interested in Louisville?

marcusgresham

Free nookie

VOXAC30

I wonder what they tell the kids yes we are on probation for four years but get time off with good behavior. Also I can only talk to you for so long because I am restricted to certain days. You are my biggest recruit… well, by law I can only have one this year. LOL………… AWKWARD!

But they got off lightly

Arch Puddington

Never mind rankings, or geography, or any other consideration. Fit matters, and this kid fits here. He plays like an old-school IU guy with modern skills, and just like what CM is after. A major prospect for our program.

John D Murphy

“After you get done banging this hooker I’ll take you to meet our HOF coach, who had two stints in the NBA and knows what it takes to get you there”. Kids don’t think in adult terms and UofL has no shame. They gladly pick back up Bobby Patrino when he was too dirty for the SEC (and the SEC sets a pretty high “too dirty” bar).

TomJameson

I think he’d be a 2 year guy. Needs a lot of physical conditioning and growth that way. After 2 years at IU, with physical AND skill growth, I can see Darius being a high first round pick.

VOXAC30

I live in Southeastern Indiana and around by Princeton HS a lot it is an awesome school really good program there facilities are amazing. I would love this kid to commit because I would go see some of his games.

SCHoosier

Pitino has his faults…but he can recruit..and I would think ‘ol friend KJ is all over this kid. The high school coach’s comments were very positive..but then..aren’t they always? I do believe IU has a good shot here…

Arch Puddington

First I chuckled, then I thought, no, “post-modern” is a relevant term in the age of Golden State.

Arch Puddington

I was being loose with terms, something like this:

Classic big man: back-to-the-basket, can pass out of double teams, the “aircraft carrier” of Al McGuire fame. George Mikan, Moses Malone, Kevin McHale.
Modern big man: More athletic, can face up, run the court, even shoot from outside. Blake Griffin, Dirk Nowitizki, Anthony Davis.
Post-Modern big man: Basically a really tall shooting guard or small forward rather than a center or power forward. Kevin Durant and those that will follow.

VOXAC30

Facilities at Princeton has nothing to do with weather or not they coach old school or new. The facilities at Princeton HS are very nice for a HS level sports. It is a really neat place to visit.

Ole Man

These kids get that anyhow.

AndyCapp

That’s what they’re hoping 😉

Slappy

And because the campus is in the city. And because there is a strong African American community, with the dirt bowl (park basketball summer event) here. And because they have a major shoe company deal and long tenured head coach and athletic director. And they put kids in the pros. And they have a style of play that the kids see as NBA prep.

Come on, not hard to see that southern Indiana might not be paradise to everyone. You need both a certain kind of personality in the kid and an inner circle that understands the value.

BannerOrBust

The city of Louisville is dirty, just like the program. The university may be one of the only things prominent (Besides the KY Derby) in that city. Last I checked, Indiana has a major shoe deal as well. Last I checked, IU has been throwing kids in the NBA every single year for a while now.

But, I guess if you like the inner city vibe than Louisville is a dream destination.

iubase

I learned something. thank you Arch

stuart j fultz

There’s no doubt in my mind that this Bazley kid is skilled basketball player on the offensive end. I’m always left scratching my head with these highlight videos though. I’d like to see some highlight videos of how tough the kid is defensively. How well can this kid guard the ball, how well can he guard the post, how well can this kid get back in transition, how tough is he making it for his man to touch the ball? I’d absolutely love to see some highlight videos of a highly recruited kid being a impenetrable defensive killer. So odd how offense sells but it’s the defense that really does win championships. Any thoughts on that my Hoosier family? Go Hoooooooosiers!!!!!!

stuart j fultz

Yes bball at nick’s!!! Ha, great point!!! Some of the greatest college basketball teams had way less in the way of facilities. I’m pretty positive that it’s used as a recruiting tool though. It just still kind of makes me shake my head at all the things a kid has to be sold in order to sway them to commit. I can’t remember which recruit we were going after recently that commented on how he liked Indiana. One of the reasons he said that was because some of the schools were trying to sway him by telling him he won’t have to go to class. I can’t remember the schools, he mentioned them by name, I think maybe like Syracuse, Louisville, don’t quote me on that. They were big time basketball schools though. I mean that really floored me, almost like being kicked in the gut. This is real stuff. We can say what we want about what Coach Crean did at I.U. but one thing he did was graduate players. It looks like Coach Miller is going to keep us in the right direction scholastically, this kid really enjoyed that Coach Miller didn’t go the route of you won’t have to go to class. Sorry about my rant bball, i’ll try to keep my replies under 500 words next time, lol. Go Hooooosiers!!!!!

stuart j fultz

Lol, ha, ha. Nice.

stuart j fultz

Nice, brought in a Mikan reference. Brilliant!!

Arch Puddington

The original himself.

stuart j fultz

No problem buddy, I’ll find the article and forward it to you. I’ll always be a student first, athlete second guy personally. I was a little tainted growing up in the Coach Knight era. Times have changed though. Thank you for your input. Go Hooooooosiers!!!!!